Police chiefs see pros and cons to new log policies

Medfield Police has instituted changes to its logs following the signing of a bill that shields details about domestic violence arrests from the public and press.

On Friday, Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law a domestic violence reform package to prevent and reduce instances of domestic violence and protect victims in abusive relationships. The law was considered "emergency" in nature, so the provisions in the legislation were enacted immediately unless otherwise specified.

One of the provisions in the bill, aimed at protecting the identity of victims of domestic abuse, also prevents the names of people arrested on domestic violence charges from being listed in the logs that police departments make available to the public. The law also mandates that police departments keep any information about domestic violence calls or police response to those calls shielded from public view.

Medfield Police Chief Bob Meaney said the previous policy was to list these names, though in domestic cases where a sexual assault was suspected, the name would be left out to protect the privacy of the victim.

The law also introduces a six-hour delay before a domestic violence arrestee can be bailed out – a kind of "cooling-off" period. However, the Medfield station only has two cells, and Meaney said neither is certified by the Department of Public Health. While this doesn’t mean that people can’t be held in the cells, an officer needs to watch them during this time.

“If there’s enough people on the road I would take people off the road for a prisoner watch,” said Meaney. “If there are not enough people on the road, I would need to hire someone.”

Meaney said this cooling off period could be a positive aspect of the bill, or potentially negative. On the one hand, he said a person made to wait for six hours might realize what they’ve done and be less likely to re-offend.

“The other side is they might sit there and get angry and go out and re-offend,” said Meaney. “I don’t think we know that’s going to work.”

Other departments respond

The region's police chiefs said they are in the midst of shifting their policies to fall in line with the new requirements, although some said they remain conflicted about the consequences of allowing the names of people arrested on domestic violence charges to escape the logs published by police and, subsequently, many of the police logs published by newspapers.

Framingham Police Chief Kenneth Ferguson said the shift to keep domestic violence incidents and arrests out of the public log was "underway." He said that the department had received a note from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan detailing several of the changes in the law. Ferguson said the change will be easy to make.

Ferguson added that if the provision of the law has its intended effect – making domestic violence victims feel more comfortable reporting abuse – he supports it.

"There are issues with domestic violence underreporting," he said. "If this increases reporting then I’m all for it."

Holliston Police Lt. David Gatchell said he also believes the legislation might protect victims’ identities. He said Tuesday he was updating the department’s policies to align with the new law.

Milford Police Chief Thomas O’Loughlin said his department will comply with the law, but he has some misgivings. Leaving domestic violence arrests out of the public log, however, seems problematic, he said.

One glaring concern, O’Loughlin said, is the potential for a person to enter into a dangerous relationship with someone who has been arrested on domestic violence charges. With information about prior domestic violence arrests shielded from public logs, information about a person’s potentially violent past might be harder to come by, O’Loughlin said.

O’Loughlin believes that the publication of arrestee names can serve as a deterrent to prevent someone from engaging in abusive behavior, adding that it seems unfair to publish the name of a 19-year-old for trespassing or shoplifting but not the name of someone who physically harmed another person.

Meaney said that not having these names in the log could be a problem for people wanting to know if there are those with violent histories living in the area.

“Like any new law put into effect, there are sometimes unintended consequences,” said Meaney.

Medfield Press Editor Max Bowen contributed to this report. Kendall Hatch can be reached at khatch@wickedlocal.com.